Obama speaks out on review process

• US President Barack Obama gave the first full length TV interview on the subject of Kenya on Madaraka Day. He was
  interviewed in the White House by KBC TV’s Rachel Nakitare. EXCERPTS

But it has to be legal. It has to be done properly. And when you look at whether it’s African immigrants or immigrants from Asia, from Mexico, I think that people just, as you say, are in search of a better life, but it’s not fair for a young African to come here saying they’re going to study, and then they end up overstaying their visa when you’ve got a lot of Africans back home who are patiently waiting in line and going through the process — and perhaps waiting years — to apply for a green card.

And so we want to make sure that people aren’t rewarded for breaking the law. We want a system that is more efficient, more effective, more rapid that can bring the talents of people around the world, but we want to do it in a legal way.

Now, the one other thing we want is to make sure that young people in Kenya have the opportunity to succeed in Kenya also. And obviously a huge problem for the continent of Africa is some of its best and brightest end up emigrating to the West because they can make more money there, or it’s easier to get a decent education.

We want to create a situation where people who want to succeed can stay in Kenya. Nairobi is as beautiful a spot as there is on Earth, but if young people don’t feel like they can move forward if they’re ambitious and they work hard, then they’re going to end up leaving, and that makes everybody poor.

America is a leading democracy, and yet it has not ratified CEDAW, the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. And it’s a big surprise to most women as they come to attend the Commission on the Status of Women meeting every year in New York at the UN. Are you planning on ratifying CEDAW?

Well, keep in mind that if it was simply up to me, it would have already been ratified. I’m a strong supporter of it. It is currently pending in the Senate. We want the Senate to pass it. The Senate has had a busy agenda and it moves slowly as it is. But my hope is that we get it done.

What are you doing about the oil spill? It looks like it’s domestic, but I’m sure it will spiral and get to Africa and the rest of the world.

Well, it’s not clear that this actual oil spill will get to Africa. But it does raise broader international questions because there have been terrible oil spills, particularly off the West Coast of Africa, where there’s been a lot of oil exploration and production for many years — off the coast of Nigeria, off the coast of Angola.

And so what this has become I think is a symbol of why it’s so important for us, first of all, to have stronger standards in terms of how oil production proceeds offshore; holding oil companies accountable so that there’s the technologies to stop these leaks when they occur; making sure that government is able to provide effective oversight over these oil companies that are so powerful and large; but also the need for us to move towards a cleaner energy agenda over the long term.

We’ll continue to depend on oil in the short run, but over the long run, we have to develop the power of the sun, the wind, biodiesel, geothermal power.

There are all sorts of sources of power.

And, frankly, those of us in the West have to use power much more efficiently because the amount of energy that the average African uses is probably 50 times less than the average American, maybe more. And so we’re consuming a lot of energy to maintain these high standards of living.

As other countries begin to develop, they’re going to want to have the same cars and the same air conditioning and all these amenities which require huge power generation, and we’re going to have to make sure that we are looking at new energy sources that don’t pollute the planet.

We really appreciate your time, Mr President. Maybe just a final word to Kenyans

Well, congratulations on 47 years of independence. Let’s make sure that the Kenyan people take advantage of this moment, seize the moment, participate in this constitutional process.

And 47 years later, hopefully both you and I and our children and our grandchildren can look back and say that Kenya really turned a corner and started on a path of even greater prosperity and development.